Today we’d like to introduce you to Eli Medina.
Hi Eli, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been a creative person even when I was a little one growing up in Norman, Oklahoma I was constantly painting, drawing (not well) coloring whatever I could get my hands on very much to my mom’s chagrin.
She used to say in her sweet southern tone ” Baby I don’t know where you get all this artsy fartsy business from ” Fast forward I’m getting close to high school graduation and I wanted to break into Fashion Design but I knew in Oklahoma of all places wouldn’t do to well then I thought ” What else ties into fashion …… Hair and Makeup” Little did I know how much I would hate doing hair!
While in hair school I joined a punk rock variety show (which had aerialists, bellydancers, drag queens, burlesque, etc.) and met my best friend now of like 12 years. He happen to be a freelance makeup artist for mac cosmetics and took me under his wing and taught me the basics to get hired at mac.
So I got a cool mix of learning from drag queens and stage performers and a team of professional makeup artists at the counter. I ended up dropping out of hair school the day I got hired at Mac. I now have been a working makeup artist for the past 10 years (jeez that’s weird to type out) I moved to the valley about 5years ago with my partner.
When moving here I expressed to my partner all I wanted to do was find a place where I could just do makeup and make people feel good and then I found The Sparkle Bar and I was home. The Sparkle Bar has probably been the most fun job I’ve had to date and I used to teach Pole Dance for a living. I get to be creative every day, I get to be part of people’s most special days and I get to work with an amazingly talented team of artist
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Baby they don’t call it a journey if there aren’t a few bumps in the road. I’ve been homeless living off nothing but spoonfuls of peanut butter and paying for gas in nothing but change. Here’s the deal though you have to push through as cheesy as that sounds it’s true. I was lucky enough to have a close group of friends that helped me. I’ve had people tell me to my face that I’m the worst makeup artist they ever had.
Sometimes you are not for everyone and especially in this business, it’s people pleasing. While this is a fun job it’s still a JOB at that and every client is different but, at the end of the day everybody comes to me for the same thing they all just want to feel good and have someone show them the beauty that maybe they haven’t been able to see themselves
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Being a makeup artist I wear many hats ya feel me. I’m the bestie that gasses you up before your big event. I’m the therapist that will listen to your problems. I’m the industry expert here to tell you about your newest favorite things you haven’t seen yet. I’m a teacher helping guide new up-and-coming artists to learn and grow as well as teaching my clients how to better utilize their own products.
I’m a student constantly learning and restoring new products and technics. I’m extremely proud of being a part of a growing thriving small business that is minority-owned and woman-owned. The biggest thing about me and my team that sets us apart from other glam businesses here is that we see the beauty in you.
We teach all artists that ” the sparkle in us, recognizes the sparkle in you ” Meaning we want to enhance your features not cover them up or contour them to where they look completely different. The same reason why we don’t use filters or photoshop on any of our artist’s works is that we want everyone to love the skin they are in because you are uniquely you and that’s beautiful.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Recommendations and requests !!!! Seeing someone requests me makes me feel so special because this person trusts me the most to make sure they look their very best and they only want me. it’s even better when I don’t know them and they say they were recommended to me by another one of my clients that to me is worth its weight in gold
Pricing:
- On location -$350 min ($175 per hr per artist)
- Camera Ready- $85 (in-studio)
- Fresh Face- $65 (in-studio)
- Eyes Lip Cheek -$50 ( in-studio) * does not include complexion *
- more services and prices available at www.thesparklebar.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thesparklebar.com
- Instagram: @thesparklebar @twistedbeauty77
- Facebook: @thesparklebar
- Youtube: @thespaklebar
Image Credits
@alex bradberry, @cynthia sassi, and @ayisha marshall
